2016 Saw Jump in Ambush Attacks on Police, Including 5 Killed in Dallas

Ambush-style attacks of police officers rose dramatically in 2016. Nationwide, 21 law enforcement officers were killed in such attacks, including the five officers fatally shot July 7 in downtown Dallas. It was the highest number of ambush deaths in more than 20 years, according to a preliminary report by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. Only eight officers were killed in ambushes in 2015. In total, 135 officers were killed in the line of duty last year, according to the report. Sixty-four of those officers were shot, the report says. "We've never seen a year in my memory when we've had an increase of this magnitude in officer shooting deaths," Craig Floyd told The Associated Press. Floyd is the president and chief executive of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. "These officers were killed simply because of the uniform they wear and the job they do."Twenty officers were killed in multiple-shooting death incidents, which tied 1971 for the most killed in such incidents since 1932, the report says. Those multiple-shooting incidents include the Dallas ambush and the fatal attack of three officers in Baton Rouge, La., 10 days later. Micah Johnson opened fire on officers in downtown Dallas at what had been a peaceful protest of police shootings of black men around the nation. Johnson fired into the crowd around 9 p.m. July 7 on Main Street near Lamar Street. He killed five officers and injured nine others, as well as two civilians.   Continue reading...